Post Lockdown, Demand Surges For Beer Made By Trappist Monks

Some corrections and addenda to the news article.
Not 11,000 but 42,000 were trying to buy 3 crates from the 6,000 on offer after sales got on track again post-covid. Buying 3 crates in one go was exceptional, normally one individual can buy 2 crates.
Just for the sake of historical correctness: the revolution in beer production resulting from Napoleon's reform policy on abbeys and monasteries caused awareness in cisterian monks to relocate close to country borders ( as a 'just in case'). That is why (almost) all Belgian trappist abbeys are close to country borders.
Trappists are allowed to work the land because their adagio is 'ora et labora' (prey and work). They work the land since earth was given to mankind by God. Trappists do not only produce cheese and beer, but also soap, chocolate, mustard, jam, wine, honey ..., whatever the soil will give to us.
In the 19th century, trappist beer was not really called trappist beer but rather abbey beer, and it was not so commercial ad now. The term trappist beer was only introduced in 1932 by brewer Hendrik Verlinden (1866-1940), yeast chemist and advisor to Westmalle and other breweries, and became some kind of registered trademark in 1981.
Beers from cistercian abbeys were not so popular in the 19th century and (first half of the) 20th century as nowadays.

Just an interesting detail about covid in Belgium: there are so many covid cases in Belgium because Belgium counted meticulously and even counted 'possible fatalities'. Moreover, there id also post-mortem testing.

Cheers and to the health of the world!

 

Some interesting tidbits there! It was hard enough to get some TW12 pre-covid. I can't imagine the surge thereafter, and probably still ongoing...

My guess is that rarely, if ever, did St. Sixtus have cases of beer leftover...